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Friday, December 7, 2012

Severed Press sits down for an interview with Mark Tufo

Thank you very much for taking the time to join us Gary.

1. What are your expectations for authors that sign with Severed Press?No expectations as such, but we like authors to have their own website and to maintain author pages on Amazon and Goodreads.2. How do you find new authors, do you search them out or wait for submissions to come in?Both, I am quite active in searching for new authors, but we are always open for submissions. I would say that 90% of our authors are from unsolicited submissions through our website.3. What are you looking for in a story?It needs to be something I can sell. If it is not something I would consider buying myself then I am probably going to struggle to sell it. For me a story needs to be interesting and original. 4. How do you think the Indy market is affecting the publishing industry?The ability to self publish has really empowered authors. Authors now have a choice and if the larger publishers want to survive they really need to rethink how they treat their authors. I also think that the publishing revolution has benefited readers, no longer are large publishers in control of what gets published, this leads to much greater diversity. As a small publisher initially I was concerned, but several of our best sellers were originally self published and for various reasons did not sell. The authors then came to us and are now happily making good money from their books.5. Anything new going on at Severed that you would like readers to be aware of?We plan to continue releasing zombie series but we are looking to increase the diversity of our series. We are lining up other monsters including werewolves, vampires and aliens. I have tried to get some authors to write a mummy book, but no luck yet! We are also looking to expand our Dead Bait series with a series of novellas.6. Do you read everything you publish before putting it out to the public, if so how do you find the time?I don't have the time to read everything before it is published. I have several trusted readers who assist me with that. But I do read everything we publish eventually.7. For me you have been one of the fairest I have met in the industry, do you think this business model builds loyalty with your authors?Absolutely, I have found that a lot of authors have had negative experiences with small press publishers and when they find one that treats them right and always pays on time they like to stick with them. 8. When you have finished your work day and need to wind down what do you do as a hobby?I have two small children so I don't have much time for "hobby's" but once the little monsters are finally in bed, I like to sit down with my wife and either watch a horror flick or play PS3.9. What type of marketing do you find the most beneficial to get books out to readers?The most affective and simple method is putting a sample of a book in the back of one of our best selling digital books. Apart from this I am always trying different ways to spread the word about our books. At the moment I am working on Goodreads using paid placement advertising and running give-aways. The give-aways so far have worked very well with each book being added hundreds of times to peoples reading lists. 10. What is the one thing you wish someone would ask you and the answer?What is your most underated book that our readers should look out for? Demonmachy by Brant Danay. I guarantee that you have never read anything like this before. With some of the most imaginative and demented demons this side of Hell. Be warned though it is pretty graphic.http://www.facebook.com/severed.press.3